Think back, if you will, to the beginning of January 2025. In the midst of all the rough KTM insolvency news, that's also when we learned about another business that was about to bite the dust thanks to the situation.
It was a metal foundry called Vöcklabrucker Metallgießerei GmbH, and this firm had apparently been around for nearly seven decades. In fact, it was looking forward to celebrating its official 70th anniversary in 2025—a thing that now no longer looked like it was going to happen in January. You see, KTM Components had taken 100 percent control of the foundry in late 2024, shortly before its own fortunes tumbled down, and down.
But as luck would have it, VMG may have been down, with its employees' jobs—to say nothing of their literal decades of specialized metallurgical expertise—in serious danger. Thankfully, though, that's all over now.
After VMG declared insolvency, its administrator began looking for a new owner. Luckily, it appears to have found one in another Austrian metalworking firm, the family-owned Mettec Guss Metallgießerei und Formenbau GmbH.
According to local Austrian news outlets, Mettec Guss will officially take over VMG as of March 1, 2025. The revived business will be called VMG Niederdruckguss GmbH, and will be run by Karin Kirchschlager, who offered the following quote regarding the news:
"It is important to me to give well-trained people with their in-depth knowledge a good economic framework to achieve great things. Together we will set new standards in the industry."
Even better news: The 34 current VMG employees (and their knowledge) will be retained under the new ownership. Furthermore, the reconstituted VMG will bring back 20 previous VMG employees that had been relegated to unemployment as a result of the fallout from the KTM insolvency.
What is Mettec Guss? It's a company that currently has specialties in both gravity die casting and sand casting. Since VMG's specialty is low-pressure casting, this means the combined companies will now be able to offer their customers three different types of metal casting for different applications.
Honestly, this seems like the best possible outcome that could have arisen from the unfortunate situation that everyone at VMG unwittingly found themselves thrust into. Being able to keep their jobs and also recall employees that had been let go must be a relief for everyone concerned.
It's great news also, just for the sake of local expertise and technical knowledge. Brain drains are real, so good for Mettec Guss for stepping up and keeping the kind of knowledge you can't buy in the local industry.
What other twists and turns will we see as the KTM saga unfolds? I couldn't have predicted this one, but I'm really glad it happened. Here's hoping for more good news soon.
